Does the "Windows 7" Performance Index accurately reflect my system capabilities?

[TheDarkKnight]

Hi,
I just purchased an XFX PVT98GDYDLB 512MB videocard. I am trying to figure out how much better my system runs than with the stock IvyBridge HD4000 graphics on my CPU. I looked up some specs on each one and it appears my memory bandwidth has more than doubled but my Windows 7 Performance Index score in the category of graphics only went up a small amount. From 6.4 to a 6.8. Is there a better way to test the difference in power between these two graphic chipsets?

 

[Piotrsama]

Yes, play some games, and compare FPS when playing.
Or 3DMark if you want something easier...

 

[Nate_007]

I would not take it too seriously, but its not totally useless I would say. Every time I upgrade my hardware to something better, my scores do improve. They basically just gives you an "idea" how your computer performs in Windows environment.

MS says 1.0-2.9 you can run office task and 4-5 range should be able to do HD video and gaming. We just don't know the practical representation of those scores. Lets say if you upgraded your GPU from 6.4 - 6.8 the difference of .4 we dont know what FPS you can get with that on actual 3D games.

Personally I like using Performance Test 8.0 from Passmark Software just to give me an idea how my new build performs overall. For GPU benchmark I like using 3Dmark Firestrike I downloaded from Steam.

 

[Blitzvogel]

The scores are hard to discern with any tangible idea with reference to different processor or graphics, at least to me. I'd stick with game FPSs and 3DMark scores myself, especially if it's gaming performance you're worried about.

 

[Greenlepricon]

As everyone has said it will give you a rough idea of relative performance. There are weird things that happen as well, such as when I had a 5400rpm drive and then switched to a 7200rpm drive. Everything indicated the second was faster, yet the windows score would not go above 6.9 or something. It has very strange conditions, and for lower end hardware, as long as you meet the conditions, it should tell you that you're doing better. Another example is when I had a radeon HD 5670 in my rig, which scored a 7.4 I believe, and then my 7950 brought it to the highest rating. That difference of .5 is not very large, but I'm now well over 3x the performance that old card got me.

 

[Leyawiin]

The only thing I use it for is to quickly make sure my SSD is set up right after I reinstall windows (7.9 = fine).

 

[el etro]

It heps you to build an balanced system. Its what matters for most users.

 

[cbrunny]

Cool.. Ben Affleck is a member of the AnandTech message boards...

I've never found it particularly helpful, but it is a quick and easy measure. I wouldn't put too much stock into it.

 

[Deders]

Hi,
I just purchased an XFX PVT98GDYDLB 512MB videocard.

Just wondering what model this is, it doesn't come up in google.

 

[flexy]

Yes, and no.

A single component, say, a slow HD, can bring down the TOTAL SCORE while all the other scores may be high.

A game may be loaded into memory and then not rely on your hard drive at all, even with a slow total score your game would still be playable even with the total score low. (Because your graphics card, CPU and mem otherwise are having good scores)

Then again, a slow HD might well justify a slow score in many other circumstances.

 

[Nate_007]

TOTAL SCORE

I dont think the Windows Experience Index gives you TOTAL SCORE, the rating that you see is the LOWEST subscore. So you could have....

7.9 + 7.9 + 7.9 + 3.4 + 7.9 = 3.4 < --- lowest subscore not total

 

[wilds]

My laptop has a WEI of 7.4. My SSD is the reason it doesn't say 5.9.

 

[toughtrasher]

Just test it yourself by playing the same game with each graphics card, check your frames per second

or you can find a 3d benchmarking program somewhere online and compare results

 

[FalseChristian]

I don't understand this. I'm sorry, OP, but I just gotsta know!

Why is my graphics score for Windows Aero and 3D applications at the highest (7.9) when I'm still using 2 ancient GTX 460 1GB SLI overclocked to 827/1654/4100 and...why is my CPU score only 7.7 when I'm using a really fast i5 2500K at 4.635GHz?

Please tell me. Thank you.

P.S. I'm currently buying 2 eVGA GTX 760 4GB SLI for $724.10. I'm paying them off at $150 a month for 5 months. This is why I have them in my signature
because I technically own them and the overclock is conservative by what I've read on Newegg.com

 

[toughtrasher]

I don't understand this. I'm sorry, OP, but I just gotsta know!

Why is my graphics score for Windows Aero and 3D applications at the highest (7.9) when I'm still using 2 ancient GTX 460 1GB SLI overclocked to 827/1654/4100 and...why is my CPU score only 7.7 when I'm using a really fast i5 2500K at 4.635GHz?

Please tell me. Thank you.

P.S. I'm currently buying 2 eVGA GTX 760 4GB SLI for $724.10. I'm paying them off at $150 a month for 5 months. This is why I have them in my signature
because I technically own them and the overclock is conservative by what I've read on Newegg.com

I'm not OP but in my opinion, the Windows scoring system isn't a very reliable. Proof can be as simple as your story above.

Obviously your i5 is faster than your old hardware, but Windows sometimes has trouble accurately placing a better score, so I wouldn't rely on it

 

[jaqie]

the WEI is good only for a very basic general view of system performance for people that know little to nothing about computers, nothing more. It falls on it's face in some situations, but in general it can tell you how decent or not-decent the system is at a glance. If the scores are all up in the 7s the system will run most anything at some graphics setting level quite well, if it is down in the 3s or 4s, it will be slow for even desktop apps compared.

Take it for what it is, an extreme oversimplification for people that need one of a computer's general performance, imperfect as it is.

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That said, my q9650@3.6GHz, 4x 2GB hyperX DDR2-800@800, ocz agility 3 60gb, hd6850 gigabyte windforce factory oc system scores a 7.3, 7.3, 7.4, 7.4, 7.2 and is a perfect example of the scoring system actually telling you the system is no slouch but there are faster out there for the very complex/fancy games and programs.

 

[wilds]

The WEI is a poor way of grading your system. It needs to be revamped. In other words, I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

 

[Deders]

I don't understand this. I'm sorry, OP, but I just gotsta know!
Why is my graphics score for Windows Aero and 3D applications at the highest (7.9) when I'm still using 2 ancient GTX 460 1GB SLI overclocked to 827/1654/4100 and...why is my CPU score only 7.7 when I'm using a really fast i5 2500K at 4.635GHz?

WEI is shows you what kind of performance you will get in windows 7.

The 460's weren't around when 7 came out. I seem to remember getting a 7.5 for a single 9800GTX+ and 7.7 when I put 2 in SLI so anything above this will max out the score.

I believe even the latest i7's only get 7.8 unless you do some extreme overclocking, i think it's down to how many threads you have so 8 threads would give you 7.8, you only lose a point for having 4 as it doesn't really affect the windows experience that much.

 

[ruhtraeel]

I don't understand this. I'm sorry, OP, but I just gotsta know!

Why is my graphics score for Windows Aero and 3D applications at the highest (7.9) when I'm still using 2 ancient GTX 460 1GB SLI overclocked to 827/1654/4100 and...why is my CPU score only 7.7 when I'm using a really fast i5 2500K at 4.635GHz?

Please tell me. Thank you.

P.S. I'm currently buying 2 eVGA GTX 760 4GB SLI for $724.10. I'm paying them off at $150 a month for 5 months. This is why I have them in my signature
because I technically own them and the overclock is conservative by what I've read on Newegg.com

You might want to shorten your signature to something that people might actually read.

WEI is... misleading. I have a decent rig, but IIRC the last time I checked, it was held back at 5.9 only because of my hard drives.

 

[Chipfiref]

Well be glad that you even have a score. I get this:

The Windows Experience Index for your system could not be computed.

Cannot complete the requested assesment. The system does not have the necessary multi-media support to run the requested assesment.

I have the Intel Graphics 4600. Not sure if that, or Haswell itself is not registering with the assesment utility.

I will be putting a graphics card in this box soon though...

 

[Deders]

WEI is... misleading. I have a decent rig, but IIRC the last time I checked, it was held back at 5.9 only because of my hard drives.

But you know that the only thing that is bringing your score down is not having a SSD. This is something I would be fine with if I couldn't afford a SSD but after buying one I can see exactly why not having one limits the windows experience.

 

[toughtrasher]

You might want to shorten your signature to something that people might actually read.

Lol holy moly I just took a look at his sig and I got lost in an eternal void of confusion

 

[el etro]

WEI is not an ultimate benchmark(Passmark score is more accurate to the casual user), but an index that can help the user to build an fast/responsive and well balanced system. He helps, by a example, indicating you can trade an i7/i5 to an i3/i5 + SSD to have a way more responsive system.

But there's no single benchmark that will absolutely reflect your exact system capabilities.